Lifes Twists and Turns

Life here has taken quite a few twists and turns during the last few weeks, hence the lack of posts.  Also because of those twists and turns there hasn't been much sewing done here either.  I have managed to get a litlle bit (a very little bit) of hand applique done on a project that I have been working on for several years.  Yesterday morning I got up extra early to spend some time with my sewing machine and it felt really good.  This morning I got up early but so far am spending my time on the computer.  The twists and turns have made me really apperciate my husband, our children and grandchildren, our home and all of the beautiful blessings in our lives.  Today I plan to go to my LQS and spend some time sewing and visiting with friends for a few hours. 

Pillow cases

Our Guild, Thunderbay Quilt Guild meets every Thursday. On months when there is a fifth Thursday we use that as a Charity Sew. Last week's charity sew was pillow cases for children with very serious illnesses (ConKerr Cancer). We had a very ambitious group of twelve members attend. Sewing machines were buzzing, irons and rotary cutters were flying and of course laughter and conversation was aplenty. On about a 5 hour period we finished 85 pillow cases plus we had 49 pillow cases that were brought in before the sewing day. I am very proud of all of our participants, thank you girls. We are going to make lots of kids very happy and also help to brighten their days. All of the pillow cases had to be washed, dried, pressed and put into individual zip lock bags. I brought home the majority of the pillow cases. I ended up washing 4 loads and by 2:00 p.m. on Friday they were all bagged and ready to go. I will deliver them to a "middle person" next week who will make sure they get to the appropriate person for distribution. And I suspect that I may get a few more pillow cases at our business meeting tomorrow. Charity sewing is so rewarding. If you haven't been involved in any such activities I suggest you check around and see what you can do to help others.

A Boot Fettish

One day last week I was straightening up part of the garage and cleaning the floor. I lined up my husbands boot and shoes and although the picture isn't real clear there are 10 pairs of boot and shoes here and a few pair up on the shelf on the other side of the garage. I think he has me beat in footwear.

When Life Hand You Crap..............

Oh, I think it is supposed to be "When life hands you SCRAPS, make a quilt. Oh well!.. Life has been a bit stressfull the last couple of weeks with some family problems. Everything is going to work out. I decided that I needed to do some easy, mindless sewing. I had a zip-loc bag of pieced 4 patches sitting on my sewing table. The blocks started out at 2 inches. I pulled the 4 patches, found some additional fabric for sashings and began sewing. I ended up making these two baby quilts and am really happy with the way they turned out and I truly enjoyed and appreciated the therapy. These quilts will go to the Baby Basket here in our county. It is an organization that accepts new and gently used items for families in need.

Another Completed UFO

I finished this quilt about a month ago. It is a Spider Web quilt that I started several years ago in a class with Gyleen Fitzgerald at Thunder Bay Resort here in Hillman. It isn't a pattern that I would have picked but Gyleen had some great short cuts that helped to make the quilt a fun project. As a side note there were a couple of nurses in the class and they thought the spider webs resembled hazardous waste signs.
Today was sewing day at Sandy D's Quilt Shop. We had a small group today but still had a good time. I spent the majority of the time drawing, cutting and fusing the bumble bees onto some Honey Bee blocks. This morning before I went to the shop I got half of the machine quilting done on a baby quilt. I should go outside and finish cleaning up the last flower bed but the temperature right now is 87 degrees and I think I will wait till it cools down. Besides that half quilted baby quilt is calling my name.

A Very Busy Weekend

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here in Hillman with temperatures in the high 70's. Friday night I attended the Mock Rock Concert at the High School. I have to admit that I must be getting older, or maybe it is just that I am not into rock music. I didn't recognize most of the songs or the artists but I do give a lot of credit to the kids for performing on the stage to a packed house. Saturday morning I spent 3 hours with our 2 year old grandsons Gavin and Grady. We spent about 1 1/2 hours on the golf cart touring the town. Every time I stopped they would say "Moe". After their Dad picked them up I headed to the Nursing Home to attend the St. Patrick's Day party with my Grandma. We were given the choice of green milk shakes or green beer (non-alcohol, of course). So Grandma and I enjoyed green milk shakes and 2 games of Bingo. It was a cover all and the winner of each game received $2.50. My Grandma didn't quite get the total concept of the game but we still had fun. After the party I came home and changed clothes and my husband and I headed to the Community Center for the 37th Annual Firemen's Ball. The meal (prepared by the firefighters) was great and so was the country music band. Over 160 door prizes were handed out and there were a couple of raffle items too. The band played till mid-night and then it was time for clean up. We got home a little after 1 a.m. so that wasn't too bad. I got up for Church on Sunday morning, stopped to check on my parents after Church, then came home and made brunch. Shortly afer we finished with brunch we headed to Mio (about a 45 minute drive) to attend our grandson Cameryn's basketball tournament. His team won their first game and since the second team did not show up they forfeited and Cam's team won the trophy. It was pretty exciting. My evening consisted of a warm bath, a little reading, a little hand quilting and and early bed time. I have a feeling tonight's evening may be a repeat.

Another Completed UFO

This sampler quilt was a Block of the Month we did at Guild in 2010, about time I got it done, eh? The picture doesn't really do the quilt much justice. I used my much loved 1930's reproduction fabrics. I wasn't real thrilled with the quilt. Maybe if I hadn't put the red in the middle I might have liked it better. But of course, it has grown on me. I tried to machine quilt it using an all over stippling and it just wasn't working out. Then I remembered I have lots of large stencils so I decided to use one of those and hand quilt my quilt. Well, with all of the variety of color in the quilt it didn't matter what color thread I used none of the stitching was showing up. And if I was going to hand quilt I wanted my stitching to show up. So I decided to machine quilt doing a cross hatch using my walking foot and the little foot that attaches to it to mark the lines. Someone told me it wouldn't work so of course that made me want to try it even more. I am really happy with the end results, it was easier than I thought and actually kind of fun. I will definitely use that method of quilting again.